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On Thursday, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and sponsor of House legislation to fully repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), cheered the federal circuit court decision striking down Section 3 of DOMA, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law.

Nadler, the author of the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal DOMA, renewed his call for the immediate passage of his legislation.

The House ethics committee has drafted rules that for the first time would define married gay couples as “spouses” for the purposes of filling out their annual Congressional financial disclosure forms.

Today, surrounded by friends and family, the first same-sex couples in Washington D.C. to receive marriage licenses are celebrating their legal marriages.

D.C. now officially joins the five states and eight countries that have ended exclusion from marriage. Marriage in our nation's capital marks a significant victory not only for D.C. couples who no longer need to leave home to secure the protections and responsibilities of marriage, but also for the national movement to win the freedom to marry.

AMERICAblog GayDecember 11, 2009Rep. Jerrold Nadler has said that sponsorship of a bill to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act will not occur in Congress next year. Instead, he said, efforts will be focused on building support on the issue. [Link]

DavidMixner.comOctober 19, 2009David Mixner compiles a list of all of the congressional supporters of the Respect for Marriage Act and calls for the LGBT community to withhold money from those who are not on the list: "Every Democrat must join this list and we must remain firm to not contribute to anyone who doesn't support this effort to repeal DOMA....even our friends." [Link]

"When President Obama speaks to gay and non-gay supporters of equality at the Human Rights Campaign's dinner this Saturday, he has a lot of ground to cover...By ground to cover, I mean that President Obama has the opportunity -- and I believe the obligation -- to speak in moral as well as concrete terms about non-gay people's stake in ending the exclusion and discrimination gay people endure. President Obama should not just talk about his general support for equality, and even just specific items he is working on, but, in addition, needs to make the case as to why Americans must continue evolving in support of fairness and freedom, and why anti-gay discrimination must end...